Britain's Austere Stimulus: Raise the Speed Limit

In an era of austerity, how to you stimulate the economy -- needed as another recession looms and stock around the world are closing on their worst quarter in three years -- without more government spending? Great Britain's transportation secretary, Philip Hammond, has an idea: raise the speed limit. The New York Times' Matthew Saltmarsh reports that on Friday Hammond said the government might raise the speed limit from 70 m.p.h to 80 m.p.h. "Now it is time to put Britain back in the fast lane of global economies," Hammon said, Agence France-Presse reports. The increased speed with shorten commutes and thus increase economic efficiency, he said.

News reports are focusing on the Germanwings pilot's possible depression, following a familiar script in the wake of mass killings. But the evidence shows violence is extremely rare among the mentally ill.